Morris tribune., 1887-02-23
THE STRUGGLES OF AN ACTRESS.
"After Toll and Endeavor to Reach Port
and Sink in Harbor."

CATER Toll and Endeavor to Reach Port
and Sink in Harbor."
"Whom do you consider the finest
French actress that you ever saw%
off you ask me-" replied Mile Rhea,
"what French actress pleased me most in
dividually, then l can at once reply, All
NEE Desclee. All, she was wonderful
And what strange woman to those who
did not know her well. Her art was Of
the purest, most natural kind. 1t was so
like nature that half the time she seemed
not to be acting. You know if you are a
pupil at the conservatoire, they do a Pc
culiar thing when you have finished your
course. They write your name in large
book, where hundreds of names have been
written before, and they make a little
note of it. When Desclee had finished,
what do you think they wrote? This:
Not bad-looking. Will do for small
parts 1t sounds trifiing, does it not?
But, as l said before, to be considered
capable of doing minor roles at the Fran
Gals. is no little thing"
"Did Desclee go to the Francais?"
"She went to half a dozen theatres, and
she was everywhere abused by the critics,
and often laughed at by the public. 1t
made her bitter She grew to hate the
theatres and the public, but worked on.
Two famous men watched her fully.
The men were Meilhac and Halevy.
Soon they wrote Frou Frou, and insisted
on Desclee for the leading part They
were laughed at, but they got Desclee.
The first night came. In the opening act
the artist, for she was an artist, walked
on to the stage as if she were in her own
home. Everybody said, she is not acting.
See how fine her art was. In the second
act the spectators were watching her
closely. When the climax to the third
act electrified them, they stood up from
their seats, waved their handkerchiefs,
and shouted. Desclce had won at last. The
manager of the theatre rushed to her
dressing-room to congratulate her You
have conquered them he said. She re-
piled bitterly, is it SO? Well, hope they
will like me long enough to enable me to
pay for my Frou Frou dresses, which cost
10000 francs
Zone triumph followed another. In
the Princesse Georges she was magnifi-
cent. There was no straining for effect.
Everything was nature In the act where
the Princesse Georges discovers her hus-
bands perfidy, every actress who had
pIdyou tuc pdLb uoSu W SpSdh
the line to the husband, I forgive you be-
cause love you,' in a most theatric man.
ner, almost shrieking the last half of the
sentence. Desclee did it exquisitely. She
spoke the first three words as if the par
don came from her heart. Then she
waited for moment as if seeking for a
reason, dropped her hands helplessly be-
fore her, and said quietly, but in tones of
intense pathos, because 1 love you 1t
was simplicity itself, and it was nature.
Her triumph was short lived. The dis
ease which afterwards killed her soon fas-
tened upon her. Many night she acted
when suffering most frightful agony.
Shortly previous to her death she wrote
letter to friend, in which she said Is
it not hard? A lifetime of struggle, toll
and endeavor; Ireach the port at last and
sink in harbor.' Believe me when l tell
you that France has no Desclee on her.
stage to-day."-New York Mail and Ex-
press.